Why are there so many web developers?

[WillLoxley]

Hi all,

I might be wrong in this, but just from looking around this forum it seems there are many small-medium sized web developing agencies out there. Excluding those who serve a specific niche it also seems most compete for the same sort of work too.

I just wanted to ask those people why it is that this is the case, I guess with business, people tend to specialise (German SMEs) or a large 'overlord' becomes the most prevalent vendor of services. I might be wrong in assuming that this isn't the case here, if so then that's fair, but otherwise I am just quite interested.

 

[MOIC]

The boom in online selling requires every business to have a website.

It can be self taught to start with, while gaining experience as you go along.

I think its a case of where there is a demand, the supply will keep on coming.

The demand for websites is huge and will grow every year.

Of course, there is good and bad in every trade and I suspect website development is no exception.

 

[ryedale]

If you provide a good service and have a good reputation, then there is always a colossal amount of work available.

 

[WillLoxley]

Ah! Sorry, what I should have asked is why there are so many small/medium sized ones, rather than one just overtaking the rest. I get that there's demand (of course!) but I don't understand why there are lots of 'small fish', so to speak (not that I mean small in any disparaging fashion).

 

[ryedale]

Well it's a business that can be started up with next to no overheads in a spare bedroom if you wanted to. There's no need for stock or any other start up costs like that so it's easy for anyone to call themselves a web design agency even if the level of service they offer doesn't match the quality of a more established firm

 

[Ste Hughes]

PHP is/was the most sort after skill a potential employee could have not long ago.

The world is changing - online become more and more import each day. It's natural that the people who can make that happen are going to be highly in demand and there is current no barrier of entry. Anyone reasonably techy can do it.

 

[andygambles]

Many "Web Developers" are not really the case. They can simply choose a nice template and make some customisations. They serve a need in the sub £1,500 sector which is perfectly adequate.

But when the customer needs something more complex or bespoke they may struggle.

When you get to a level of needing a truly bespoke site you find there are a lot less web developers.

 

[garyk]

As ryedale says its barrier to entry, when that gets lowered everyone can be a 'web developer'. I cut my teeth as a (software) developer in the late 80s/early 90s and then it wasn't the norm. As soon as visual basic came out then overnight anyone could wander into pc world buy a copy and call themselves a 'developer'.

Then what happens is the skill/service becomes a commodity and you are competing with joe schmo who will offer the same service for a tenth of the price.

Reminds me of a conversation I had with my accountant (who I also rented an office from) back in 1993. I quoted him for a system, he managed to get a quote for a fraction of the price. I asked him who was doing it for that price, and said 'someone I know'. I asked 'what does he do for a living?', he replied ' he drives a breakdown truck'. Enough said, I should have know then, even 21 years ago, anything in IT is f**ked. Get somone cheaper regardless of skills or experience.

I'm glad I'm out of that sh*t and out of IT and work in general come this xmas.

 

[fisicx]

They can easily take work from online freelancing sites like freelancer, peopleperhour and elance.

A decent developer will never need to join the bottom feeders on the freelancer sites.

There are loads of small web designers/developers in the same way there are loads of hairdressers. They fill a niche. Most of my clients don't want to go to a large company, mainly because the large companies already out there are carp (1and1, vistaprint etc).

 

[Philip Hoyle]

It's the same with book-keepers and accountants. Very low entry barriers (just a PC and internet connection). No regulation (anyone can call themselves an accountant, just like anyone can call themselves a web developer). You get good and bad.

The reason why the market isn't dominated by "big players" is that the large firms are usually far too expensive for the small business, and that the large firms all too often offer poor service. Using a big firm isn't a guarantee of quality nor service.

Back to accountancy, I get most of my new clients who move to me from the large contractor-specialist firms of accountants simply due to poor service and over-pricing, I get very, very few clients coming to me from other small accountancy practices. When I look at the accounts and returns prepared by the big, so-called specialist firms, I can usually find sloppy work, mistakes, and poor advice. The clients I have and the web-designers I talk to say exactly the same thing about websites, SEO, etc. - i.e. using a big firm is no guarantee of a better service.

 

[andygambles]

Large firms do not mean great service as you may still end up with the first year student/apprentice working on the Job. Same as the misconception that large firms are financially more secure than small firms. The monthly overheads may beg to differ.

 

[Paul Murray]

Large firms do not mean great service as you may still end up with the first year student/apprentice working on the Job. Same as the misconception that large firms are financially more secure than small firms. The monthly overheads may beg to differ.

One of my clients paid to have their site completely redesigned by one of "Manchester's top agencies" (according to their own website anyway) not too long ago. The site in question is dated, both in terms of design and technology (using Cufon for web fonts in 2014!), and my opinion is that it was either designed by an intern/junior (no disrespect to them) or more likely by someone who just needed/wanted to get it gone. It's certainly not indicative of their previous work, but as any designer will tell you, only the best work goes in the portfolio.

As you say, that's the problem with many agencies. They offer agency rates, but the service and even outcomes, are very questionable at times for anyone who isn't a huge brand or important client. That's where smaller agencies come in. We may not all be able to compete with the huge agencies (not that we'd want to anyway) but we can give the client the service and outcome they expect.

 

[Paul Norman]

Many "Web Developers" are not really the case. They can simply choose a nice template and make some customisations. They serve a need in the sub £1,500 sector which is perfectly adequate.

But when the customer needs something more complex or bespoke they may struggle.

When you get to a level of needing a truly bespoke site you find there are a lot less web developers.

This. Just as there appears to be a million photographers, many are just people that own a camera. T